Smallville Forest
by ExtremeRainbowRaiderPrincess
Summary: Title may change later. When Lois helps a woman away from the forest, she gets pulled into a mystery that has spanned four planets and a hundred years. Can she, with the help of others, save Smallville from a strange threat? Clark/Lois, Chloe/Bart.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I own Terri and the creature, that's it. Nothing else. Everything else belongs to its/their respected owners.**_

_**Author's Note: I must really enjoy writing story, 'cause this is story number seventeen for me. I am well on my way to having twenty stories before this year is up.**_

* * *

A young woman fled through a dark forest, looking over her shoulder frantically as she ran.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed, looking ahead again.

A howl was her only answer.

She yelped as she stumbled over fallen branches and scrambled around large boulders, twice losing her balance before regaining it.

The creature was slowly catching up.

Soon she spotted a road and ran faster, swatting branches out of her way. A red SUV was coming her way as she stumbled onto the road.

"STOP!" She screamed, her hands up.

* * *

Poor Lois- She had no idea what a mess she was now getting herself into as she slammed on the brakes.

"What the… Chloe, I am going to have to call you back." Lois said, hanging up quickly.

Lois climbed out of the SUV, hurrying over to the hysterical woman, while watched from the forest.

It sneered. Cursed woman in the SUV…

…Okay, cursed woman in the SUV with a tall man asleep in the passenger seat.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here. Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Lois asked the woman as she helped her to the SUV.

"Yes, I'll be fine." The woman said shakily.

"What's your name?" Lois asked, opening one of the back doors for her.

"…Terri. Terri Nickols." The woman said meekly.

"Okay Terri. I'm Lois Lane and I am going to get you out of here." Lois said, helping her into the SUV before climbing in and driving away.

The creature sneered as it watched them drive away. Well, looks like it was going to have to track them…

Ringing nearby made the creature jump before it took off running. But first it had to catch _Eureka_.

* * *

…_I gotta stop doing this. New story, yes, yes, I know. Review or don't, whatever._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I own the OC's and nothing else.**_

_**Onward then.**_

* * *

Lois stood in an empty corridor at Metropolis General, no one noticing as she called Chloe on her cellphone. "Sorry about that Chloe. I just had a woman run in front of my car. It was like she was being chased by something."

She listened as her cousin said the usual lines of, "That doesn't sound good", "Is the woman all right?", and, "Smallville's forests aren't usually crawling with unfriendly creatures."

Lois rolled her eyes as she nodded. "Yes Chloe, I know the 'big secret' that Smallville's forests have a lot of animals in them, but don't all forests?" Clark was coming down the hall towards her just then. "Look, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." Lois said before hanging up.

"I talked to the doctor. He says that Miss Nikols is going to be all right. She has a few minor problems, including amnesia, but nothing life-threatening." Clark explained.

Lois nodded. "That's good to hear. I wonder what she was doing out in the forest in the first place."

Clark pursed his lips in thought, making Lois blush for staring at him too much, before he smiled at her. "I'm sure the police will find out why." He stopped, crossing his arms. "Lois, are you blushing?" He asked her with a teasing air.

Lois scoffed. "Of course not Smallville, why would I be?" She said, sounding disgusted before going around him. "C'mon, let's get out of here. I hate hospitals and I have a front-page story to write."

Clark blinked before following her. " 'Front page story'?" He echoed her. "Lois, that woman may have been running for her life. That's not the nicest thing to do, especially since you are the one who found her."

Clark had a good point, and Lois knew that, but she couldn't resist a good story- One that might make her famous too.

As the pair approached the elevator to return to the ground floor, two doctors left the nurses station.

"Hey, aren't those Terri's doctors?" Lois asked Clark as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

Clark nodded. "Yeah, they are."

"Oh, what I would give to be a fly on the wall for their conversation." Lois said as Clark frowned before focusing his better-than-anyone's-hearing hearing on the doctors.

"I don't know what we found in her hair, but it was certainly strange." One said.

"Really? What was it?" The other asked.

"It could only be described as a stone. A purple stone." The first one said.

"Clark? Clark!" Lois's voice returned Clark's focus on her as he smiled at her. "What did I just say?"

"That you have a front page story to write. I heard you the first time Lois." Clark said, stepping into the elevator and waiting for Lois to join him.

Lois frowned, confused, before shaking her head and joining him in the elevator as well, starting a lecture on the rules of how to be a good reporter… Again.

* * *

Terri lay in her hospital bed, pretending to be asleep, as a nurse checked her IV before leaving the room.

The moment Terri was sure she was gone, she opened her eyes and sat up. With a cautious glance towards the door, she climbed out of bed and walked quietly over to the foot of her bed, picking up her chart.

She read it over carefully yet quickly, her brow furrowing in confusion.

" 'Dehydration, minor injuries, an infection on her right calf, and a possible case of amnesia? Follow up with questions after patient regains consciousness.'?" She echoed in confusion before looking up from the chart.

A flicker of a memory occurred, reminding her that she had passed out in the SUV. She had awoken to Lois shaking her awake, followed by her boyfriend lifting her out of her seat and then… Nothing.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?" Terri asked quietly.

Suddenly footsteps approached.

Panicking, Terri dropped the clipboard and hurried back into bed, feigning sleep again.

The door opened, no one entering the room as Terri controlled her breathing, before the door closed again. She opened one eye to see that the person had their back to the door and was outside of the room. She sighed in relief. That had been a close call, to close for comfort. Next time she would be more careful- Wait. Next time?

* * *

The man outside the door nervously frowned in thought before a nurse passed him with a smile.

He smiled back and nodded before heading down the hall.

Carelessly, he tossed the doctor's jacket he wore on a stainless steel cart and proceed to take the stairs down to the ground floor.

Who was this man?

* * *

"All right, goodbye." Chloe said, hanging up as she gave her phone a funny look.

"What's wrong Chloelicious?" Bart asked, appearing behind her as he dried his hands off on a dishtowel.

Chloe turned around to find the dishes they had used during dinner gone and the sink had soap bubbles near it. "Bart," she said with an amazed smile, "you cleaned up the dishes?"

Bart looked at the incriminating dishtowel in his hands and, in a heartbeat, the dish towel was gone. "Of course I did."

"And why did you do that?" Chloe asked with a smile, draping her arms around his neck as he held her close.

"Because I wanted to spend more time with you," Bart whispered, a glimmer in his hazel eyes.

"Well that was very sweet of you," Chloe whispered back, there faces growing closer.

Just as they were about to kiss, the door to Chloe's apartment opened and Oliver took a step in.

"Whoa," he said, taking a step back as the two broke apart. "Sorry. If I had thought that I would be intruding-"

"You knew that you were intruding." Dinah said, drifting past him into the apartment.

"Yeah, we all did." AC said, following her.

"Didn't want to, but we did." Victor added as he entered before Oliver crossed the threshold once again and shut the door behind him.

Bart zipped over to the sofa, taking a seat, while Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Was there some sort of hidden clause when I signed up to be both Watchtower and Bart's girlfriend?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms.

AC and Victor smirked at each other out of her eye range while Dinah laughed. "There are always hidden clauses for dating Bart."

Bart scowled at Dinah as Oliver smiled before Chloe finally got the message.

"What's going on?" She asked. Okay, so maybe she was not psychic, but she knew something was going on.

Oliver crossed his arms as they all groaned, settling in for a long meeting of the [current] Justice League.

"All right team, we've got a situation on our hands." Oliver said with a smile.

"No kidding boss. What is it this time?" Bart spoke for the rest of them.

Oliver smiled as AC froze, Dinah seated on his lap. "Oh no, I know that smile. For the record, I am not going after another sea creature that looks like the Loch Ness Monster!"

Victor snickered as the others tried and failed to hold back smiles.

"What? It's not that funny!" AC objected as Oliver finally laughed.

"No, not for you at least. Anyhow, while it is not another Nessie that we have to deal with, it's something equally as threatening." Oliver said, his smile turning grim.

The others gave each other confused looks before Bart sighed, looking at Oliver again.

"Well, as long as it isn't a boring mission, I'm in."

Chloe smiled at her boyfriend before smiling at Oliver. "Me too. Besides, where would you be without Watchtower?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Arthur and I are in." Dinah said, speaking for her boyfriend who gave her a playful pout.

"What if I don't want to help?" He asked her.

"Too bad," she said, kissing him, "you're needed anyway."

They all looked at Victor to confirm his vote.

"What?" He asked with innocent, wide eyes. "C'mon guys- And ladies- You know what my vote is."

Oliver smiled again, his arms crossed. "It's settled then."

Looks like they were back in business.

* * *

_**Thanks go out to Chlollie and laraandkurtisfan97 for the first two reviews. Thanks you guys!**_

_**Review if you like, don't if you don't. :)**_

_**P.S.: If you want to guess who the mystery man is, go right ahead, but I bet that you don't know who it is. :)**_

**_I also apologize for any and all grammatical errors._**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I own the OC's and that it. I do not own the mystery man either.**_

_**A/N: I am still alive. I ran out of ideas completely for a while there. Sorry. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, the reviews mean a lot to me. The story is set in a slightly AU season 9, but before the movie. Here's a hint about the mystery man: His character, on the show, has been written off. :) And currently Lois lives at the farmhouse.**_

_**Oh yeah, and the pairings for this story have changed, just a little. They are: Clark/Lois, Bart/Chloe, Oliver/Tess, Victor/Mia, and AC/Dinah. Yeah, I know: No OC in the mix? Shocking for my writing. XD**_

* * *

**_Between here and there..._**

_Run. That's all she could do. Keep running._

_IT was coming after her, the creature from her nightmares... Not an Internet Technician or something. Her mother had warned her that the creature would be vicious._

"_Never let your fears overcome your strengths, Terri." Her mother had told her before she left on the mission. "They will try, but you cannot let them win."_

_She vaulted over a fallen tree, her eyes reflecting the moonlight as she ran in the direction of her ship. If she could reach it in time, she could lure the creature onboard and then lock it in the cage._

_If she could run that fast._

_Why was she doubting herself? She was a trained warrior. From the time she was a toddler on, she knew this was what she wanted. To fight the monsters of the universe and send them away- Forever._

_She heard the creature behind her as she approached a clearing, its foul stench causing her to gag as she stumbled into the road, growing weak from fatigue and her adrenaline rush coming to a crashing halt._

_As the car slammed on the breaks, Terri felt like she was flying away. In the back of her mind, she remembered all of the horror stories about the monster._

_She had failed the mission. She had let her fears win._

* * *

**_Metropolis General..._**

Terri sat up, gasping.

"What is going on?" She gasped, putting a hand to her forehead.

Nightmares. Plain and simple. It had to be. Why would she have a 'ship', or be in the woods hunting a monster, or be in the woods at night? Sheer nonsense.

She looked around the hospital room, suddenly craving cheese fries and some coffee.

"Give me a break, I shouldn't be here. I'm fine." She muttered, ripping the blankets off her legs. "Stupid luck." Terri muttered, pulling off the heart monitor and hopping out of the bed. "Shouldn't have stumbled into the road when that car was coming my way."

She unplugged the machine as it started wailing, then bolted from the room, quickly ducking into a supply closet as orderlies approached. She could hear shouting as she winced and peaked out of the closet. Nobody in sight.

She closed the door again and leaned against a nearby shelf. What was she doing?

_Running, that's what. I don't belong here, don't know my name… Terri… Well, I know my name but I don't know how I got amnesia… I need to find out why I have this._

Turning around, she found herself facing a shelf full of scrubs, spare pairs of rubber shoes, and hair caps. Smirking, she pulled on a pair of nurse's scrubs over her patient scrubs, shoes, and a hair cap. Convinced that she didn't look like a patient anymore, she left the closet.

Terri left the closet at a walk, but once she was away from prying eyes, she started sprinting. She took the stairwell to the ground floor and somehow made it past the front desk without anyone noticing.

Once outside, Terri took one look at her surroundings and sighed. "Great. Now I am probably miles away from my home. Just great." She said. With that, she took off down the road.

* * *

**_Kent Farm, Smallville..._**

"Clark, sometimes I wish you labeled what you kept in these boxes." Lois said as she raided the boxes in the attic of the Kent farm. She was searching for an old box of newspapers that she knew was up here. Some time ago, she had been snooping when she came across the box. She remembered reading an article about the piece of woods near where they had found Terri, and now she was curious.

Downstairs, Sandy barked before she heard someone climbing the stairs to the second floor. "Lois?" Clark called as Lois found the box she was looking for… Hidden under a box of Clark's old high school memorabilia.

"I'm up here Clark!" Lois called back as she rummaged through the box. "Gotcha." She breathed, unearthing the old newspaper from 1973.

Clark climbed the stairs into the attack and almost tripped over Lois. "Lois what are you looking for? That coffee mug you misplaced last Wednesday? I found it out in one of the horse's stalls. What were you doing out there?" Clark asked her as she stood, skimming over the article, before smacking the newspaper against his chest.

"Read, Smallville." Lois said smugly.

Clark raised his eyebrow and grabbed the newspaper. He skimmed the headline. " 'Worlds Largest Bumblebee Found In Smallville'?" He asked, looking at her.

"No, the other one!" Lois said, glaring at him.

Clark nodded, read the correct article, then looked at Lois again. "Lois, what exactly does this article interest you?"

"Just read it out loud Smallville." Lois said with a roll of her eyes.

Clark gave her an incredulous look before reading the article. " 'Local farmer Ira von Gilpsuiter found a creature hiding in his woods. It chased him from the south corner of his property to the west corner of his property'… Lois what are you suggesting?" He asked her, looking into her eyes.

Lois blushed before smiling at him. "There's a story, here, that is just waiting to be told. And I'm going to be the first to tell it."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "But, Lois, this story has already been told." After that, there was a moment of annoyed silence. Clark, always the gentleman, broke it. "But, you're never wrong about where a story is. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Lois laughed lightly, taking the newspaper back from him. "Nothing, Clark. And don't even think about stealing my story." She warned him, flouncing downstairs.

Clark sighed, looking around the mess she had made of the attic. "Living with her can be a nightmare." He groaned.

* * *

_**...Still at the farm...**_

"What are we doing here?" AC whined as he, Victor, and Dinah trekked through the dense underbrush of the woods near the Kent farm. "If there was something here, Clark would've found it by now."

"Maybe Oliver wanted to shut you two lovebirds up for more than five minutes. I know I would." Victor said, trying to get away from them.

Dinah glared at the back of Victor's head as AC grabbed her hand.

"You're just jealous she likes me and not you." AC said as he swung Dinah into his arms.

"I think he's just tired of you proclaiming your love for me every five minutes." Dinah told him with a smirk.

AC rolled his eyes. "See? He's jealous." Returning his gaze to her, he smiled. "Babe, I can't help it. You're just too good for me."

"Yes she is." Victor said, having stopped to wait for them. "And can you shut up? My sensors are picking up on someone coming from the farmhouse- And it's too slow to be Clark."

Dinah and AC exchanged looks as they ducked behind trees, Victor doing the same.

CRINKLE... CLASH CLASH... CLUNK! "OW! Stupid tree branch." They heard Lois mutter along with some quiet curses. "This shortcut better really work, or I am going to hurt the maker of the map." She muttered, walking past the trees the three were hiding behind.

Seconds after she was out of sight, they reappeared.

"Who else thinks we should follow her?" Dinah asked the guys.

"Yeah, I agree." AC said.

"Well I'm good with it. Let's go." Victor said, starting after Lois.

The other two exchanged looks, shrugged, and then began following him.

Wherever Lois was going, they knew it had something to do with their mission.

* * *

_...*Facepalms* I wish I had had the inspiration to update sooner, but I didn't. I'm sorry about that. Review if you want to, but you don't have to. And for the love of God, no flaming, because I will ignore you._


End file.
